A Thousand and One Nights
by faded harmony
Summary: They fell for nine days. Nine days and nine nights, they held onto each other as they rushed passed earth, middle earth, and finally to the bottom where they were saved by flexible tar and not crushed on impact. They fell for nine days. And they wandered for nine days, the string tied to one another as if it was their lifeline. They walked for nine days. Oneshot.


**Title: **A Thousand and One Nights

**Rating: **T [Dark themes and character death/slight depression - actually a lot of depression, but let's ignore that and lots of weird things going on]

**Pairings: **Percy/Annabeth (Side pairings of Hazel/Frank and Jason/Piper but only slightly)

**Summary: **They fell for nine days. Nine days and nine nights, they held onto each other as they rushed passed earth, middle earth, and finally to the bottom where they were saved by flexible tar and not crushed on impact. They fell for nine days. And they wandered for nine days, the string tied to one another as if it was their lifeline. They walked for nine days.

**Disclaimer: **Rick Riordan owns all characters and morbid cliffhangers and assumptions towards the next book

**Dedication: **The anon on tumblr who requested it (I am _so _done with these depressing requests, btw) and dedicated to Jill and Annabubbles (To Jill because I like to torture her and Annabubbles because if I didn't I think she just might disown me. Nooo!)

**Author Note: **I really hope none of this happens in the actual series. Takes place after The Mark of Athena and a little more after. Lots of Mark of Athena spoilers (duh) so I'd advise reading it before you read this. Also, I'd like to say that my LeoValdezrequest that I thought was long and depressing? Haha, no. Meet monstrosity one shot, over 18,000 words. The title was inspired off "One Thousand and One Nights" which is surprisingly the title for the Arabic Aladdin story. Huh. This story has nothing to do with Aladdin. Now credit to the amazing HecateA not for the idea because I come up with morbid ideas of my own but I was reading her story "Lost on Memory Lane" which isn't really similar but the only idea I found was the song at the end which I DID NOT STEAL FROM HER I WRITE MY OWN STUFF but simply the idea of having a song at the end is her idea. I suggest you go read it. So yeah. I DO NOT STEAL THINGS.  
I also would like to mention I was listening to the song "Daylight" by Maroon5 while writing so go listen to that somewhere. Enjoy and feels galore.

*Chapter 58 from The Mark of Athena referenced near the end.

* * *

**A Thousand and One Nights**

* * *

Their eyes had dimmed, or the lights were brighter now, because the way their pupils contracted as Leo and Frank hoisted their friends up by the arms. Their eyes weren't bright or shining like they had been, and they certainly didn't look braver or more determined. Even from the way they were looking at them, with wide eyes and torn expressions, the crew felt that helpless tug between them as they watched Annabeth- the strongest person they knew after losing her boyfriend after eight months- fall to her knees and weep with more sorrow than an entire armada could have contained. And then there was Percy- the tight compression of his lips in such a fine line, it would have been a miracle if he ever smiled again. Laughter didn't seem to exist anymore, not like the evil, cruel laughs of down there where they spent their time in a place not hospitable for two demigods.

He knelt next to her, his own knees sinking into the ground, for her sorrow was his and his sorrow was her own; neither could hold sorrow on either of the other's shoulders, for the weight was too much for one or both.

She didn't necessarily feel safe in his arms, only more comforted because nothing was safe; the battle worn, tired arms that had held her close to his heart as they ran through the darkened folds of hell and tortuous images beyond. Because a nightmare only lasts for a dream on its own, and this dream lasted for an eternity and longer.

The others looked between one another, coming to a silent consensus, as they lifted their friends from the floor and allowed them to lean on them for support as they walked with a funeral march pace back to the ship.

It was a funeral, perhaps, having saved two but at the cost of their own. The first had been paid, and they knew another payment would come soon- too soon- to make up for the other. Fate was balance, as it said. An eye for an eye. A life for a life.

Two, perhaps, but they wouldn't be as useful. The regret was brimming in the air- or like the tears in the sister's eyes who had lost her own- as they lifted the broken ones into their safe house, which wasn't as safe as they once thought.

Leo was left to think on the deck while the others slept. The rings under his eyes were nothing compared to the ones under the eyes of the other two, who were clinging to one another from opposite sides of the sickbay, their hands still clasped, the strong-brave-Annabeth's shaking as she tried to sleep, but stared around the room instead with fear-filled tears as if any minute the walls would collapse and claim her. And from her expression, she might have been happier if they did.

Percy looked at Leo with helpless- no, broken- eyes, his hands falling to his sides, the blood splattering over the ground as they dripped. Whether from monsters or his own, it left dark stains in the sheets he laid on.

Leo wasn't sure words would come to his mouth (not that they were his strong suit to begin with), even if he could have said anything; because as a Son of Hephaestus- the one who was good at creating and fixing problems- even he wouldn't be able to do anything.

You can make a hero, Leo had seen this been done. Heroes could be made of the most unlikely of people- him for example; a murderer and a convicted arsonist. Anybody can be a hero; but when you break a hero...usually that's it, because no one wants the broken heroes. The broken things can't be fixed. Leo was good with broken things, but glancing at the broken demigod that was staring with fixed eyes at the wall of the room, his mind filled with terrors of the unknown, and this was perhaps the greatest challenge he had ever come to face.

Even when Leo ran away from problems, he had grown to learn how to face them and fix them...but perhaps it was too late, for this was one problem he would never be able to fix.

* * *

_The hellfire flickered in Percy's eyes, not quite broken, but slowly wearing down and cracking from the inside. _

_The girl beside him was not as lucky; her strength had faded rapidly and her undefeatable willpower and determination had drained into nothing. His hand was clamped around hers, guiding her through the different obstacles ahead in the maze of cliffs and sudden drops, further and further down into hell._

_It's always dark before there is light, the only words that Percy was able to cling to as they ran and limped, further and further from the grunts and moans of eons of suffering monsters and the cruelest souls._

_When they came to a dead end, Annabeth gave a cry of despair, and slipped from Percy's grip and slumped into the floor. _

_"We're done for," she whispered as they heard the gentle whispers of horrors slowly creeping up behind them. "This is it."_

_Percy managed to swallow painfully and take her hand back into his, the only comfort he had she was still there. When they lost touch with one another...it was very easy to get lost down here. He looked down at the long thread of string tied to each of their wrists as to keep from getting separated. It had worked so far, but Percy only was left to worry that if it broke and they were apart...he doubted they'd ever see the outside world again. And even if only one of them made it out, the terror in their hearts and the guilt would have brought them straight back to where they were before in the deepest gates of hell._

_"If this is the end," Percy whispered. "I'm glad I'm with you."_

_If it hadn't hurt so much, Annabeth might have kissed him, but any extra movement besides necessary running took too much effort. "I'm better off going down with you than not at all."_

* * *

Jason shook the other girl's shoulder. "Annabeth," he tried to soothe her. "Wake up."

He had been woken up by the screams coming across the hall. For a minute he hesitated, wondering if he was still dreaming, when the frantic cry of "_PERCY!_" echoed into his ears and he didn't hesitate another moment as he ripped back the bed covers and swung open the door, taking long strides to get into the infirmary.

The blonde girl that used to lead and have the plans and the ideas they all followed was now just a weight. Sure, the resented having to take care of two practically useless people- but Jason knew that felt wrong and those thoughts weren't his own. He pretty much figured that out when he heard the voice of Gaea offering to hand them over- '_after all, they couldn't help with the quest anymore.'_

But they would never- _none_ of them- would ever voice their thoughts about the apparent hopelessness their friends were holding inside. Percy and Annabeth weren't just companions on this quest, they were friends; and you don't leave friends behind.

Jason held the girl's shoulder firmly while she tried to kick him away, almost falling off the cot. "Annabeth!" He said louder. "It's Jason, wake up!"

Her eyes shot open, filled with terror and horror. She shut them again, holding herself at her knees and sobbing. Jason wasn't sure what to do, so he uncomfortably kneeled down beside her cot and offered her a hand. Instead, she pulled him in and hugged him, making Jason feel even more awkward. He tensed up, and didn't relaxed while she kept shaking, but he didn't push her away. Annabeth had never trusted him before this- and quite honestly, he didn't find her the most consolable of people- but if she was scared enough to open up her arms and hold onto him for support now...Jason could do that.

When she gradually calmed down, and fell back to sleep, Jason set her back down on the cot and sat next to it for the rest of the night, making sure she didn't slip into nightmares or feel scared. It wasn't really an intimate thing, more like just lending a hand like friends. He didn't doubt for a moment that if he was in the same situation, Annabeth would have done the same- or any of his friends, really- because they didn't just have a common enemy; it took more than just companions and friends fighting a war to be this closely tied. It was more like family, which Jason had never had before except at Camp Jupiter (which he might never see again) or even at Camp Halfblood. None of them really had such strong family bonds before, and he knew he could count on his friends for anything.

After all, you never leave friends behind.

* * *

_Annabeth had been keeping her best to stay with Percy, her muscles in her legs sore and tired, but her ankle had been slowing her down, and the sheer exhaustion in her mind was making it hard to stay focused._

_Maybe it helped a bit they were being chased by voices that kept urging them onward, to keep ahead; not give up and fall into the abyss. Neither of them wanted to find out what the whispers were._

_Percy pulled a sharp turn, almost making Annabeth slam into the side of a canyon. While her shoe fell free, she got a nice- and by nice, she meant a very open and non reserved view- of Tartarus. _

_The ground below cut off into a large canyon- twice the size of The Grand Canyon (which is not the biggest canyon in the world, but the only one Annabeth had ever seen close up) and extended miles both further up and down. There didn't seem to be a bottom. And if there was an end to this endless expanse, it was farther down than her eyes could allow her to see._

_Of course, they knew that already. The fall down here had been enough to prove that. If they were to jump off this ledge- they could fall for days or more, descending deeper into the hell they called Tartarus. _

_Annabeth managed to swerve and cut Percy off, breathing heavily. Her ankle was aching now, the little spare ambrosia she had left starting to wear off. _  
_"Percy," Annabeth said. "We need to jump off here."_

_Percy had been glancing around, looking for the source of the whispers behind them. He flipped back to her, his eyes wide. "We have to jump..." He peered a little over the edge and what lay below. Bellows of tortured souls of the eons could be heard echoing off the fiery walls beside and above them. "...down there?"_

_"And quickly," Annabeth added. "We'll never outrun them, Percy. It's the only way out."_

_Now looking at his pale face, he sucked in a deep breath, balancing his arms like a small kid about to take a dive off the deep end. Since their fall into Tartarus, he had developed his own fear of heights and drops...and enclosed spaces, like dead ends. The fears of others had become their own._

_"Are you sure?" Percy whispered quietly. "We'll never get out of here if we do."_

_"You don't know that," Annabeth urged. "I'll be right next to you."_

_She took her hand into his, and as the whispers and screams and tormented cries in the dark grew closer as they leaned off the edge of what they thought had been the bottom._

_Annabeth's screams died in her throat, as her and Percy free fell into infinite darkness. _

_The fall did not last long, because suddenly there was light. Annabeth blinked, the air rushing in her eyes and almost forming tears._

_"Beautiful sacrifices," the Goddess whispered. "You will be mine until I cede your blood on the stones of Mount Olympus- the home of the gods- and watch them weep for their children they can not save."_

_They were silent as they crashed- not, were absorbed- into the sudden earth. The whispers grew louder, yet softer at the same time. Annabeth realized the whispers had been the wishes of dark things, and broken promises, and everything evil and cruel that filled the space of Tartarus. It was dark and cruel itself, and grew in size with each new horror. It also made her realize there was a bottom to Tartarus, after all. _  
_The bottom was the other side._

_So close to being free, Annabeth thought. The secret was going deeper, not up, because something in a center doesn't have it's own center. It goes right through and into the other side._

_She saw the fear in Percy's eyes grow in strength as the ends of the ground swarmed over their heads, deepening the darkness and sudden droopy eyelids._

_"Sleep," the goddess chuckled, as Annabeth's eyes closed silently and willingly, her arms wrapped around Percy as they were devoured into soil. "You will never wake again."_

* * *

Perhaps Frank had been too delayed to notice the effects of madness before it came. The trip back to America had been quicker than the way there, but maybe it was the blessing of the gods to aid them back home. The least they could have done is protected them.

Frank remembered the scarred faces of Percy and Annabeth when they freed them; scarred deep inside them from whatever they had seen inside hell. Scarred deeper than a sword-scar or a scar from a burn; unfixable and unlikely to ever heal.

They had sailed all the way to Epirus, Greece from Rome, Italy, only to lose Hazel's brother, Nico di Angelo- who had bravely and freely jumped through the doors to get Percy and Annabeth from the other side.

He never came out and- a little slip- the doors slammed shut, and before they could open them again, the dauntless son of Hades had closed them on the other side. Before he jumped he said to get to Mount Olympus in Greece even if he didn't make it out. When they were forced to leave Epirus, simply because they had to now go fight Mother Earth without two of the seven and Hazel's brother, it was too mournful.

At the peak of Mount Olympus (according to the Greeks from what Annabeth and Percy had told them, the one in New York had an elevator) while climbing vertically up the mountain, they reached the top to find their friends in a sleep-trance, encased in the bonds of the earth.

When they freed their friends, it was no better. The broken glass effect they had seen in Nico's eyes had transferred to them too. The 'broken glass effect' was just the beginning of another long journey to madness, in the end, just to end in bitter flames of funeral pyre(_s_).

From what little information they managed to extract from Percy and Annabeth (that was, when they stopped gazing into the fires of hell that remained imprinted in their minds) was that Gaea had rescued them from Tartarus- which none of them were able to figure out if that was good or bad- and planted them on Mt. Olympus to use their blood to awaken the goddess forever.

Thanks to Team Awesome (Leo kept insisting that name would catch on eventually), and the help of a violent ego-maniac satyr by the name of Coach Gleeson (snicker) Hedge, they made it to Mt. Olympus with little to no major destruction on the ship and little damage to their physical parts (although, emotionally they were all pretty much shot). They rescued two people who needed rescuing and headed home after lots of shed blood and battles.

So much loss, Frank mourned. The loss of his old life, the loss of shy Frank (but maybe he liked shy Frank better than fearless, scary Frank) and the loss of even Nico di Angelo (who had always been a little strange, but Hazel's brother nonetheless) and the loss of so many irreplaceable things. He hadn't lost his life yet, and he wasn't about to lose his friends either.

But it was first when Frank had been doing a night shift (Jason and Leo insisted that even though the war was over, they still needed to keep an eye out for stray monsters or Keto and her seat pets) when he heard the desperate pleas coming from the infirmary.

Frank paused, taking a few steps back and leaning against the lightweight door. Should he have been eavesdropping? They could have been talking about something private- but yet, he leaned casually on the door and tried to listen.

The first thing he heard was Percy's desperate voice. "_-please, _ Annabeth. You have to eat _something._" His voice cracked. "You're the strongest person I know. I can't lose you."

He heard Annabeth's raspy reply. "I know. I don't want to lose you either. But...I'm not strong anymore, Percy. I won't be the safe after...af..after.."

It went silent again, until Percy's faint snores echoed through the wood. Frank was unaware at the time how he should had done something between the time- to when he lost his friends forever.

Nope, Frank decided. He definitely should not have eavesdropped on that conversation.

* * *

_"It's fine," Percy soothed, rubbing his arms and his teeth clinking against the bottom ones. "It's always dark before light, right?" _

_Annabeth was shivering. Who thought hell would be cold? Then again, Tartarus was full of surprises. Most of them had been bad, although she could tell Percy was secretly relieved to be in the cold region. He was freezing, but it was one of those Jack Frost questions- would you rather die in ice or fire? Fire was quicker and more painful and burning, but ice was burning cold and slower but more of a peaceful drift. Annabeth didn't know which one she would have preferred more now. She just wanted to get out of here._

_Her teeth chattered as she pressed against Percy for warmth. "It's...so...c-c-cold," her teeth shook with the rest of her. "I w-w-w-wish we had a fire."_

_Percy's expression turned dark. "I think we should be lucky we aren't in the deepest part yet," he said. "I'd rather freeze then be burned alive."_

_Annabeth shrugged, but it was almost too much effort to move without feeling cold all over again. "Suit yourself." She snuggled further into his tattered shirt, holding onto each other for the need of their own body heat so they wouldn't freeze and the desperate clinging feeling they had to be with one another._

_It was dark, after all. And she felt safest in his arms when it was dark, down there, or even when they came back to the surface._

* * *

Piper felt like on the trip back was equally- if not more- depressing than it had been on the trip to get to defeat Gaea and almost die and lose friends along the way.

Maybe it was because she sensed something between Percy and Annabeth. She couldn't have been the only one to notice it- as hidden and as discreet it seemed- they had found their friends, but it seemed like they were losing them all over again.

They went back to the place she called home once. Her and Jason stood on the prow, her commanding everyone to drop their weapons, and Jason barking at the Romans to drop their weapons. A Greek fighter and a Roman warrior working together, playing their best strengths.

Along the battle lay a small strewn set of brave campers standing on the edge of the Camp, their eyes shining with hope and desperation at the giant warship as it descended and hovered above the ground where the fighting was the worst.

"Surrender your weapons, traitors!" The skinny annoying blonde augur, Octavian, was wearing Roman battle armor and a plumed helmet, but it didn't look like he had been fighting. The proud purple robed Praetor, Reyna (whom Piper wasn't sure whether to openly despise or keep her distance from- even though the other girl had never technically done anything wrong) was holding a large flag.

"Romans!" Reyna shouted over the augur. "Surrender your weapons!"

An entire legion of Romans looked at her with hesitation. _What? Lay down their weapons?_

"Campers!" Piper shouted to her Greek friends in their brave protection circle. "Lay down your weapons!"

"_En pace esse!_" Jason said in latin to his Roman allies, taking her hand in his and raising it above the crowd for all to see.  
"Be at peace!" Piper shouted. "The war is over!"

"Romans!" Reyna ordered louder, demanding obedience. She lifted the purple flag higher- and ripped off the edge as a white flag cascaded over. "Peace!"

Several Roman legionnaires gasped, and others haughtily clutched their weapons higher, and many dropped them. The Greeks raised another white flag on the edge of a long spear, matching the one raised above the Argo II as well that Leo had rung up above the tallest mast.

Piper was grinning, turning to Jason, to see if he was as overjoyed with making temporary peace, but his eyes were set past his sister's pine.

"Let me through!" Percy burst out from the lower deck and pushed past Frank and Hazel, who had gathered above the deck.

"The forest," Coach Hedge whimpered. "The strawberry fields."

As Piper turned and saw too, her spirits sank to nothing. Leo zipped down from the mast, swinging down to Piper.

"Oh no." Leo moaned, his face full of horror. "We're too late."

Camp Half-Blood lay in ruins. As the ship settled down into the ground, the area had gone silent. Jason grabbed her waist and picked Piper up and down to the ground gliding through the air where Reyna was standing under her flag of truce, as another camp leader made their way down to the white flag.

The daughter of Ares, Clarisse, seemed more heavily scarred than usual. Her sword was nowhere in sight- mostly because she had been told to drop it in a sign of truce- and her lips were not set in a scowl but a harsh sort of depressing frown.

She looked between Jason and Reyna, then Piper. Not trusting the Romans, Piper assumed, she asked Piper "Where's the others? And Annie and Prissy?" There was a clench in Piper's heart, at the hopelessness in her voice. Camp had been the last place for these demigods...and now as Piper looked over the remains of the overturned cabins and the burned edges of what might have been the sword arena or the Big House. She couldn't tell so much anymore.

"Annabeth and Percy are on the ship," Piper said cautiously. Clarisse was glaring at the opposing Roman army, where Jason stood protectively next to Piper. Looking at the other Roman girl's face, she looked more alone than ever.

"You," Clarisse pointed an accusing finger at Reyna. Several Roman guards yelped and reached for their weapons, but Clarisse was neither armed nor had the energy to take out the the Roman girl. "Why didn't you attack us earlier? We saw your army lined up on the shores far before we even had a chance to rally an army, and you hesitated until yesterday to come and rip down the camp. Did you feel like gloating in their faces how their home is gone now?" She pointed to the dragon headed ship where Festus blew smoke sadly from the top. Leo was perched on the dragon's head, his eyes scanning the remains of what used to be home.

Reyna's jaw locked. "I did postpone the attack," she said. "To save your camp. I did not want to start a war, Daughter of war. Unfortunately-" her sharp gaze lingered on the other augur who was shouting protests in a shrill voice to attack the Greeks and the ship, which no one listened to. Her stare turned back to the ground, taking interest in her sandals. "-I was overridden by another highly influential power who has been after my position for longer. I am terribly sorry for what my legion has done to your home. I too, know what it means to have your safe haven destroyed before you."

Piper couldn't make herself hate this girl if she was making it sound like that. And even Jason had said- and Frank and Hazel- that she wasn't trying to start a war. She had held back her Roman army for as long as she possibly could.

A plank lowered from the side of the ship, where a stricken Hazel and a quiet Frank made their way down. Percy followed soon after them, his eyes set on the smoldering remains of the camp. He stood behind Frank and Hazel who were looking around at the destruction their own friends had brought to a group of harmless people trying to make it to Camp and live.

"Romans!" Percy's voice sounded hoarse. "What strength has this brought you? Burning down my home!" Even with a quiet voice, his anger seemed even that more intensified. Several nearby soldiers winced and backed away. Octavian was still shrilly shouting to "Kill them! Kill the Greeks!"

"One moment," Jason whispered to Percy. He turned to Octavian. "Oh, will you _please _ just _shut up_!"

The augur flinched and turned to Jason, his eyes wide and his mouth clasping like a drowning fish.

"You should be ashamed!" Jason said louder. "You attacked a safe place for demigods- not only did they allow me to live with them for many months, but you destroyed it. I claimed this my home once too, Octavian! I knew where the Roman camp was and even if I had shared it, these campers would not have marched in with an army and a flag of war!"

"Jason," Reyna said sternly, her gaze lost on the shrunken doll of Percy. Piper flickered her eyes to the son of Poseidon, his pale color and the sunken hollowness under his eyes, and the limp way he moved. "Enough."

Jason was livid, and when he looked to Piper, she nodded in agreement.

Annabeth refused to come out of the ship to see the ruins of her home. Her and Percy had lived her for many summers- this had been her home since she was seven- and now it was gone.

If anything, this was almost as painful as their trip to Tartarus.

Camp was rebuilt, in time, but the memories of the burning fizzling flames of the place they once loved was never going to fade.

Many of the Campers were burned in shrouds. Piper hadn't known many of them very well- but the ones she did know she mourned for.

Percy wasn't the same after that. He didn't resent Frank or Hazel or Jason or Reyna (Frank, Hazel, and Jason had been on the quest with him and there was nothing they could have done) and Reyna who tried to protect his home for as long as she could. Payment, she said. You destroyed and protected mine before, but I didn't willingly march in to take yours.

Piper had been wishing seeing his home rebuilt would give him new hope for the future, but as the days passed and the camp slowly grew back to it's original size, Percy seemed to grow more tired and sad with the days and the nights and the weeks...

Second chances, Piper thought. Percy and Annabeth could make it out of Tartarus, they could face anything.

But it seemed like Tartarus was the thing that had given them the second chance, because they weren't able to face anything more than the next morning.

* * *

_"String," Annabeth instructed, her vision foggy. Percy's side was hurting him, but he didn't allow the pain to blind him. "Where's my backpack?"_

_Percy felt along the dark floor, his hands brushing over alien surfaces and unawareness. He came across the strap and pulled it towards them, fingering things around until he found the wrap of string._

_"Break a piece," Annabeth ordered. Percy did that, and fumbled to pass it to her. With dark eyes she blindly tied it to Percy's wrist and then her own._

_"I'm not going to lose you down here," Annabeth explained to him, more to reassure herself than him. "Not down here."_

_Percy fingered the string tied around his half and the end that tied him to Annabeth. They were directly linked now, like when they carried the grey streaks obtained from holding the weight of the sky. Tied._

_"We'll make it out of here," Percy promised her, but he wasn't sure how they would manage to do that. "We'll both make it. I promise."_

_She shook with agitation. "I won't leave here without you."_  
_"Neither will I." He shook her hand on it, holding tight to the girl he loved so that he would fall next to her into the darkest parts of hell._  
_Because she was his light, and he wouldn't get lost down here in the greatest darkness if he was next to her._

* * *

Hazel wasn't sure what she should have said when she walked into the newly constructed Cabin thirteen. It was about as home feeling as the cold temple of Pluto at Camp Jupiter- which didn't say much.

She shivered at the coldness in the room. She understood why Nico never liked staying here very much.

Hazel would live the rest of her life being in debt to her step-brother. He had taken her from the Underworld when she should have been dead- because he couldn't find his other sister and he thought she deserved to live and have a second chance at life. He had taken her to Camp Jupiter and protected her like a real brother, and he risked his life to find a way to take down Gaea and almost killed himself doing it.

And then, finally, Hazel saw he was braver than perhaps anyone else. He had been in Tartarus before; he got lost and almost went insane and then passed through the Doors of Death to take his friends out. Instead, it had been a lure and her brother had been locked inside again. This time, her brother had already thought out what he needed to do. He locked the door from the inside, and that was the last she saw from him.

Nico had been her first brother. Then Percy came along, who treated her like family just by their first meeting. He was as protective of her as Nico was, and as Hazel saw him slip away she couldn't help but despair- _not again_!

And the days turned to nights, and the nights turned to breaking dawn and the time passed with them, a cruel master waiting to take her slow time and claim them once again...

* * *

_"That's it," Percy slumped against something in the dark, unseen in Annabeth's vision. "We'll never make it out of here."_  
_The whispers had just started now, and Annabeth couldn't decide if it was her own mind resolving into madness or the unconscious mind of Tartarus stirring beneath them with their presence. It acknowledged two souls had fallen into its midst and why it hadn't swallowed them completely yet, Annabeth didn't understand. _

_Annabeth tugged on the string around her wrist, the only guide she had to finding him in the dark. "Don't lose hope yet. We are still alive." She put her hand over his chest, her head bowed in sleep deprivation and on the brinks of sleep._

_His tone softened. "Sleep," he chided. "You've been through a lot. I'll stay awake...I don't feel like sleeping down here yet."_

_So Annabeth closed her eyes- although it was more of a reassurance thing, they couldn't see anything down here anyways- and let sleep take her captive._

_But it felt like her dreams held her captive. For the time they wandered, Annabeth had been waiting for horror to open into their minds and worrying when it would pop out._

_She found where it had been hiding, in the edges of their mind and resting places when they were vulnerable. It split open her mind like breaking through fragile glass and penetrating her mind like it was nothing more than soft dough._

_Annabeth woke up screaming, clutching onto Percy with the fear she was now engorged with. Day one of rest, and they discovered Tartarus was not just a physical hell, but it drove you insane by breaking open your mind when it was least expected and ripping you apart._

_They never slept after that, always running, on the move, never letting sleep catch up with them ever again._

* * *

It was when Jason noticed Annabeth had lost too much weight he had to step in and intervene.

It was not just Annabeth either, Percy had lost a considerable amount from when Jason had last seen him. On the yearly festival to celebrate Percy's birthday and the defeat of Gaea, the Roman allies and Piper came from California and returned for Camp Halfblood to stop by and make sure things were alright.

When Percy walked out, his face not quite alive but not as sad as it had been when they had been when he was beginning to slip into madness, and yet he was somehow even sadder.

Jason embraced his friend, and held him at distance while Piper asked sternly what was wrong.

Percy looked down to his shoes, playing with the edge of the summer grass- although most of it was just dirt from where the legion had burned the camp to ashes- before answering.  
"She's not well," he confessed. His arms seemed too thin, as much as Jason saw he had kept his muscles, there was nothing besides a bag of skin and bones. "I've been taking care of her but..." His eyes pleaded.

Leo was coming up behind him, looking tired but happy. He ran to tackle Piper in a hug. "Ambassador of New York, huh?" Leo ruffled Piper's hair. "I knew there was more than makeup in your genes, Beauty Queen!"

"Shut up, Repair Boy," Piper huffed, but she couldn't help but grin. "What've you been doing?"

Leo's eyes twinkled. "A little bit of everything." He reached over to hug Jason, who rolled his eyes at the tight enclosure his friend was squeezing him into. "Aw yeah! Jason's back too! We can have a proper party with him now."

Percy was already heading back to the infirmary, with a worried Hazel and Frank following close behind him.

Jason pushed Leo off him, and followed his Roman friends. Leo and Piper came up behind them, sharing sibling jokes and trying to kill each other for fun, just like old times. He heard Piper give a yelp and turned around just a tad- to see the old faun, Coach Hedge, had tackled Leo and Piper both in a goatly hug and ran around with them in his arms telling everyone how they were his cupcakes and he'd beat them up if they hurt his little kids. Jason chortled, slipping inside behind the curtain.

His chuckle faded to a silent gasp. Annabeth was indeed not well. Her eyes were even more sunken in, and her skinny wrists held a tiny band over her arm. She looked grim and pale, and far too weak.

"She can't walk," Percy licked his lips as he took his girlfriend's hand and rubbed a cloth over her forehead.

"How..." Hazel looked horrified. "How long has she been like this?"

"Sick?" Percy, who used to be so brave and courageous and strong- even Jason envied him a little, but he'd never say it out loud- looked very scared. Scared of losing her. "She...she was better...and then she got worse and...about two weeks ago she couldn't walk around and..."

Piper ducked her head in, followed by Leo. Leo had changed from his joyful playful tone to something much more serious and even a little...depressed. "Hi Percy," he said. "Hey Hazel, hey Jason, hey Piper, hey handsome." He struck a pose in a mirror by Annabeth's bedside and winked at his reflection. "Who am I forgetting?" Leo mused, putting his fingers around his chin.

Frank grunted, not letting Leo's annoyance get to him. "Oh right," Leo snapped his fingers. "Festus needs his scales oiled. I knew I forgot to say hello to someone."

Piper slapped Leo's arm. "Leo!"

"Ugh," Leo complained, making a face at her. "Always ruining my fun. Hi Frank," he said with much less enthusiasm.

"Valdez," Frank mumbled in response.

After a few more minutes of talk from Percy, how's life, life's good, camp's nice, Octavian is still a little itchy thorn, Reyna's alive, no one we know has died, Leo hasn't lit fire to any new campers, etc. Annabeth spoke, her throat very raw.

"Hey, guys," she said, almost into a cough. "I'm...sorry you have to-" she held in a choked word. "- see me like this."

"It's okay," Percy wrapped her hands around his own, tucking a blanket over her. "Are you cold?"

* * *

_"Are you cold?" Percy asked, peering behind into the darkness to steal a glance at how well Annabeth was holding up. _

_"I'm fine," Annabeth snapped, her exhaustion seeping into her nerves and her girl teen rage hormones. "Leave me alone."_

_Percy stopped, making Annabeth walk into him. She scowled and brushed herself off, glaring into the darkness at all directions. _

_"What's wrong?" Percy demanded. "You've been like this all day. Are you hungry? Are you tired?"_

_"Stop it!" Annabeth cried, her voice breaking. "Stop worrying about me you stupid idiot! Worry about yourself once in awhile, like your stupid idea to fall in here with me. You should have let me fall in! Stop worrying about me and let someone worry about you for once!" She hugged herself and fell into a ball, rocking herself and not letting tears fall from her eyes._

_Percy sat down next to her, not sure to say anything. "I don't want anyone to worry about me," he murmured. "I want to worry about you because I have to."_

_She sniffled. "And what if I worry about you? I can't let you die down here, it will be all my fault."_

_"I don't think it's dying down here we have to worry about," Percy said. "It's about getting caught."_

* * *

Piper knew something was up when Leo ushered them out of the infirmary. "Valdez," Piper narrowed her eyes. "What's going-"

"_Shhh_!" Leo said, pushing the whole group further away. "Shhh!"

"Ugh," Hazel fanned herself. "If you're going to show me how to use the internet or whatever that thing was again, no thank you. You had some strange things on that screen."

Leo kept pushing them away, but he turned red. "I let Connor borrow my computer and he changed all my settings and gave me bad browser history! Ugh!"

When they were pushed far enough away, past the slowly reconstructed strawberry fields, Leo gave a huge sigh. "You guys have been gone from Camp for a long time," Leo started. "And...well things have changed."

"Like Percy and Annabeth." Piper punched Leo's arm, making him wince. "Why didn't you tell us about them?"

"I didn't want you guys to worry," Leo said, sending a frown at Piper for punching him so hard. "And it gave me time to come up with a plan to help Percy."

"Percy?" Frank made a serious thinking face. "What about Annabeth?"

Leo looked down and kicked a baby strawberry with the tip of his sneaker. When he looked back up again, he looked angry and bitter. "Chiron says Annabeth only has a few months left. She's losing it guys..and Percy knows it too. He's losing himself too, just watching her wither. I talked to Annabeth and...she thinks its for the best too."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Jason asked, not sure where this plan was going.

Leo took a deep breath, and spilled out _"PershuoackJutipter-sohedungocrazytoo._"

Frank scratched his head, confused as if Leo had started speaking another language. The others were just as puzzled. "What?"

Leo took a bigger breath and forced the words out like each word inflicted pain on him. "Percy will be returning with you guys to Camp Jupiter so he doesn't go crazy too. I talked to Chiron and Annabeth agreed and at the end of the holiday we'll be sending him with you guys back to Camp Jupiter. I'll be keeping watch of Annabeth here."

* * *

_Percy kissed her forehead as she leaned against his shoulder, trying not to fall into sleep. They took short stops to rest and try to conserve their energy._

_"I could never have done this without you," Percy murmured, stroking her hair. "I won't leave you ever again."_

* * *

"What!?" Piper demanded. "You are going to send him away- halfway across the country- just so he doesn't see his girlfriend die? What kind of plan is this?"

Hazel was shaking her head. "Leo, that's not fair to either of them."

Leo picked up his leg and kicked another decayed strawberry plant into the field a good distance away. "I know!" He yelled, his back from the group. His voice grew softer. "It's for the best," he said. He turned around.

"He's right," Jason finally said, although the others looked at him like he had lost it along with Leo. "Percy would be devastated if he watched Annabeth die before him, and he could have been able to do something about it."

"We'll have to take his memories away," Leo sounded even more and more depressed about the plan he head. "He won't go willingly to Camp Jupiter. Tonight...tonight we'll have the Lou Ellen do the spell and..." He walked away from the strawberry plants as not to destroy anymore. "...and he'll be going with you guys to New Rome that morning."

"What about when the spell wears off?" Frank asked gruffly. "Leo, this is a bad plan."

Leo sighed. "I know. I hate it more than anything...it..it was Annabeth's ideas." His eyes were filled with pain, looking at Hazel, who was the most quiet. "Hazel...you know what it's like to try to forget about those you love to keep them alive, and make them stay away so they don't get hurt, right?" They pleaded to her.

Hazel felt a lump form in the base of her throat as it slowly tied her lips shut. "Leo's right," she said, her voice not like her own. "This...this plan is the only way to help Percy live a little longer. When does the spell expire?"

Leo turned away and started heading back to the Forges- or Bunker 9, whichever he found the most comfortable. "We have to do the spell in the last moment Percy and Annabeth are together," he said. "So when Annabeth is..you know, passed on, the spell will lose it's power."

When he was gone, Frank looked at Hazel. "Percy will never forgive us for this," Frank warned the others.

"What kind of friends are we?" Piper was the most aggravated. "This is- _Ugh!_" She went in a rage like Leo had done in the strawberry fields and kicked a watering can onto its side. "Agh! After all they've been through- they just couldn't- Ugh! This is so- Agh!" She stomped her foot into the ground, spun on her heel, and stormed away.

"We have to do it," Hazel said to convince those who remained, but it didn't even convince her. Tears blinked out of the corner of her eye. She wondered if owners felt like this when they had to decide whether to let their old dog suffer or put him down and let him go early. It felt like that now. "Its best for the both of them."

* * *

_"I could go for a pizza," Percy mused, his hands grazing against the dark walls ahead so he wouldn't walk into them. "And some blue Coke."_

_"You just had pizza in Rome," Annabeth complained, stepping over a large cascading lump in the wall and jumping off it as she led Percy further. "Stop talking about food."_

_"Food," Percy groaned. "I'd do anything for a nice, cold, ice Coke right now..."_

_"Percy," Annabeth warned. "Don't make yourself hungry by thinking about food."_

_"Excuse you," Percy huffed. "I was just trying to take my mind off this whole situation." _  
_Annabeth's glare softened, but Percy didn't know because of the inky blackness surrounding them._

_Th-thump. Th-thump. Percy stopped, pulling Annabeth back by a few feet from the tug of the string around their wrists._  
_"Do you hear that?" Percy whispered, somehow feeling that he should be silent. _

_Annabeth perked up, her eyes trained around their black surroundings. "It sounds..." she was whispering too, but more like a hiss. "It sounds like a heartbeat."_

_Percy scrambled back. "This place is alive!" He said a little louder, alarmed._

_Annabeth clamped a hand over his mouth, but it didn't help the situation. The dark space filled with low chuckling, that slowly became louder and louder and filled their eardrums that shook with fear and awareness._

_Percy gasped and pulled his hand back, trying to shake himself free. He struggled, and Annabeth gazed around the room with apprehension._

_"It gets worse every day," Percy murmured. "Every single day."_

* * *

"Do it," Annabeth pleaded, her eyes caught on Frank. "Tell her to do it now."

Frank swallowed. Him and Hazel had been elected- more like forced- to take Percy away that night and carefully take him back to Camp Jupiter in the morning. Piper was too angry to watch her best friend's lives be torn apart. Jason agreed to stay with Piper.

Leo was holding a small metal clip in his hands, looking mournfully at Annabeth and Percy.

"You have to leave me," Annabeth whispered, her frail hands wrapped around Percy's fingers. "You'll get sick watching me...like this."

Percy was blinking rapidly. "I...Annabeth, I can't leave you here. To know that when I come back you'll be...you'll.." he choked.

"I love you more than anything," Annabeth murmured quietly.

* * *

_"I'll never let you go," Percy tugged her end of the string playfully. "I love you more than anything."_

_Annabeth felt the pride in her swell, because he loved her and she loved him and they were together and that was all that mattered._

* * *

Percy let a single tear roll down his cheek and landed on the blanket surrounding Annabeth's shivering arms. "I can't just leave you!" He protested. "I refuse!"

"Leo," Annabeth motioned, to assure the dreadfully pale son of Hephaestus. "You have to tell Lou to do it...do it before..." Her voice got quieter with each word.

Leo held out his palm to Percy, the metal facing him. "Take it," Leo choked out. "Lou enchanted it for you to be at peace when Annabeth is resting."

Percy's face looked betrayed, his jaw clenching as he reached for it. "_Why?_" He asked, his fingers grasping at the metal and suddenly he slipped away, where Hazel and Frank rushed over to catch him.

"Put him in his cabin," Annabeth's faint voice commanded. "Leo, can you...can you turn off the light? ...I want some time...alone."

Leo wouldn't meet her eyes as he flicked off the switch. "G'night, Wise Girl."

Annabeth shifted in her pillow, mumbling and answer in response more to herself than Leo. "Goodnight, Seaweed Brain."

* * *

_Annabeth kicked something in the dark, causing it to send ripples of echoes through the groans and cries of beyond that they took for silence._

_"I don't want to be a different person when I get out of here," Annabeth muttered. "I want to be myself."_

_Percy looked around, trying to find her in the dark, and the only reassurance he had she was still there was the familiar tug of the wrap around his wrist. "You're just Annabeth," Percy said tiredly. "Always Annabeth. You wouldn't change."_

* * *

Leo hated doing shifts.

Every other day, when he had a free couple hours from working, he had to enforce his system of checking up on Annabeth.

They had moved her to an intensive care unit of the infirmary. She couldn't pick things up anymore, let alone feed herself, so Will Solace set up a calendar for people to check up on her and do a daily contribution.

With each visit he felt guiltier and guiltier. The betrayed and horrified look on Percy's face when he took the metal clasp and fell into a dreamless sleep, where Percy would forget his most important person in the world (Leo doubted Percy would ever forgive him, and he was sure he would never quite forgive himself) was burned in the back of Leo's mind. "_Why?"_

Tuesday morning, Leo came in early and peeked in the infirmary door. He saw Annabeth sleeping restfully, which Leo took as a good thing.

He made his way over, dropping lower so he was almost in a crouch. His knees felt sore from kneeling down all yesterday, so he winced as he shifted on his other foot.

"Hey, Annie," Leo teased, feeling horrible about waking her up. He still needed to make sure she was fed for the day and had a little time to do some brain exercises to keep her mind active. "Good morning sleepyhead, it's time for your daily entertainment value from the amazing Valdez! And then we get to play some interestingly and morbidly boring games of Architecture facts around the world, where I shall lose every single time because I don't know any." He gently shook her shoulder, afraid of jostling her too much would cause her to break into pieces like a porcelain doll. The old Annabeth had never been this fragile.

Annabeth opened her eyes groggily. "Leo?" she asked, her voice more of a croak. "What are you doing here?"

Leo stood up fully, limping a little on his bad knee. He should really stop kneeling when working on things in the bunker. He was gonna get RSI- Repetitive Stress Injury- at the rate he was wearing down his knees. That would not be a fun time.

"Time for breakfast," Leo said, reaching across the table for a tray of milk and some chopped fruits prepared from the Demeter cabin. "Gotta eat your fruits and veggies to stay healthy, and that calcium's good for your bones." He grinned, handing her the silver knife with a few shish-ka-bobbed fruits on the end.

He was most surprised and dismayed when Annabeth turned away from him and refused the food. "I'm not hungry."

Leo felt his happy spirit drop. "Come on, Bethy, you gotta at least drink your wonderfully delicious calcium! It's all...calcium and stuff. Drink it."

Annabeth turned back to him, the glazed look in her eyes gone and back with angry grey storms. "Call me Bethy again, and I'll shove my dagger through your head, Valdez."

Leo chuckled. "I'll keep saying it unless you drink it."

"Valdez-" Annabeth warned, her faint voice slowly seeping back to normal with anger.

"_Beth, Beth, Bethy,_ _Anna, Annie, Bethy_-" Leo taunted, dancing the glass of milk in front of her. "I'mma keep sayin' it!"

Annabeth reached for the glass and Leo helped her grasp it. Her glare was no less intimidating from when Leo first met her, but that only let him see the deeper hollows in her cheeks.

"You're so annoying," Annabeth mumbled into her milk.

Leo smiled wider. "You need to laugh more. Laughter's the best medicine, you know."

"No, it's the quadratic formula," Annabeth smirked into the glass. Leo was glad to see her smile; she hardly did that for anyone else after Percy left, and it took all the Valdez annoying factor to make her lips twitch. Last time he had to balance himself on his head and walk around on his hands to make her laugh. Then he crashed into a wall, and made her laugh harder.

"Okay, quiz time." Leo said, pulling out his cards. "How tall is the leaning tower of Pisa?"

"Fifty six meters, or a hundred and eighty three feet," Annabeth answered automatically. "You asked that one last time."

"Did I?" Leo mused. "I don't remember."

"I remember," Annabeth scowled into her pillow.

Leo flipped to a new card. "What is the Old Point Loma Lighthouse?"

Annabeth dropped her hands from her sides and clenched her fists. "It..." Annabeth frowned, as if trying to remember something. "It's in California. It's a monument about the first European to step foot on the West Coast. I think."

"Close enough," Leo flipped the cards aimlessly. "Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo's monument or something or other."

Annabeth's blank gaze settled out the window where she had a view of younger campers- children- playing with the volleyball and kicking it around like soccer. "California," she repeated, the lost look in her eyes playing back. "Such a far way from here."

Leo put his hand on the side of her bed. "He misses you," Leo started, not sure how to reassure the troubled girl. "Even if he doesn't remember it, he does."

"I hope he does," Annabeth said wistfully. "He won't see me again until after I'm dead." Her tone went flat.

"Now now," Leo clucked his tongue. "_Thou shalt not be patient for death._ You'll live longer, Annabeth. You're the strongest person I know...if anyone can survive this, you can."

Annabeth's eyes never left the windowsill, looking out at horrible images Leo couldn't see. He patted her bedsheets. "I'll be back for lunch. You keep reviewing those flashcards." He sat them on the bedside and walked out.

* * *

_"Annabeth!" Percy's voice was definitely panicked. "I'm stuck!"_

_Annabeth tried to move her legs. "It's tar!" She said thoughtfully, her hands sticking to the substance. "I'm pretty sure."_

_"I'm sinking!" Percy struggled and tried to get to her. "Annabeth, I don't like this!"_

_"Shut up!" Annabeth snapped, trying to come up with a plan. "I'm trying!"_

_"Try harder!"_

_Annabeth inspected the tar. "Hmmm," she mused. "The tar must have stopped us from being crushed on impact. It is tar-tarus, you know. It sucks you in and doesn't let you out, just like tar."_

_"I don't like tar!" Percy's muscles strained to free his legs, slowly sinking further down into the black liquid. "We have to get out of this!"_

_"Shh!" Annabeth hissed to silence him. "I'm thinking!"_

_Percy tried to pull himself up and edged further away from Annabeth in the process. "Annabeth!" He extended the length of her name several more seconds. She ignored him for another minute._

_"Here," Annabeth grabbed his elbow, grasping at an idea. "Now reach across me."_

_Percy stopped struggling, to try and find his girlfriend's face. "What?"_

_"Reach," Annabeth grunted. "If we can stretch the tar far enough, it will snap."_

_"We're in a pit," Percy pointed out. "The amount of tar overrides us, I'm pretty sure."_

_"Stretch!" Annabeth snapped._

_Percy leaned across, his fingers and the front of his shirt sticking into the black tar. "Now what?"_

_"Lift yourself up a little," Annabeth advised. "I want to see if I can snap it."_

_"How do you propose we-?"_

_"Seaweed Brains-" Annabeth put more edge on her voice. _

_"Ugh, fine." Percy reached across. Annabeth pulled something across the tar, and Percy didn't get to see what it was from the darkness, before the tar stretched it's max and they sprang free._

_Percy landed on his side. Annabeth yelped and tried to cushion her fall- unfortunately landing on Percy as her cushion._

_"That was fun," Percy rubbed his head and helped her up. "I'm glad I didn't drown in that."_

_"Oh, you wouldn't have drowned," Annabeth grumbled. "Just slowly starved to death or suffocated."_

_Percy wrapped her in a tight hug, almost sending the two sprawling back into the pit. "Well, at least we survived that. What's next?"_

* * *

Jason rubbed his hands to keep them warm, cursing himself for forgetting his gloves at his villa.

"Hey Jason," Frank and Hazel were taking a walk past him. They halted their walk at the stained look on Jason's face.  
"What's wrong?" Hazel asked, gripping Frank's hand tighter.

"I..." Jason wrung his hands. "I..Percy is getting very sick. He's worrying about something, and he doesn't remember Annabeth so it's driving him crazy. He stays up late, staring at piece of paper or a wall with a black marker in his hands and...I'm worried about him."

"Does Reyna have a cover for it?" Frank asked gruffly. "Or did Octavian blow it up in New Rome's gossip?"

"Not yet," Jason shook his head. "I don't know how much longer he has...or Annabeth. Leo told me she's steadily getting worse. She might only have a few weeks left."

Hazel closed her eyes. "I should...consult my father. He might have some answers for us."

Frank frowned. "But...the gods aren't being exactly the most cooperative of parents at the moment. You might not get the answer you're looking for."

"I have to try," Hazel said, stepping back and keeping a brisk pace to her father's temple.

Jason and Frank watched her leave. "How is he?" Frank broke the silence.

Jason sighed in response. "At this rate, he'll be in the same shape as Annabeth. I'm debating asking a Trivia camper to release the spell, but that will only make things worse. I don't know what to do anymore."

Frank hesitated. "It will work out," he said reassuringly, but neither of the two boys were betting to believe that. "It always does."

Jason turned and looked past the snow capped buildings of Camp Jupiter. "I hope so," he said. "Because it looks about as dark and grim as it ever was."

* * *

_"It's so dark," Annabeth hugged her knees. "I don't remember what the sun looks like."_

_Percy wrapped her in a hug. "Just think about it. A warm sun, the beach, the shining angle it has on the ocean...the soft sand between your toes...the light rays..."_

* * *

"How long does she have?" Leo asked, almost fearing an answer.

Chiron looked tired. "It is difficult to say. Her mind is strong and willing...but her body is fading too quickly. I suspect less than a month."

"I'll talk to her everyday then," Leo promised, looking down at his hands. "Is there...why did this happen?" He wasn't sure how to ask the question.

Chiron was in wheelchair form looking out over the strawberry fields from the porch. Leo was sitting in an empty chair, an untouched glass of lemonade sitting in front of him.

"She's lasted to the spring," Chiron began. "We didn't believe she would make it past the winter. The darkest and coldest part of the year."

"No," Leo frowned and turned the glass with his hands, turning it slowly and wiping off the sweated perspiration forming on the sides of the glass. "But she's stronger than we thought. She's Annabeth, for god's sakes. She'll live."

"I once told a hero that the hardest journey sometimes is just the recovery," Chiron started. Leo waited for an ending.

Chiron didn't finish it. "And?" Leo asked, his curiosity brinked.  
"Well, he never made it that far," Chiron admitted. "We think the way there is hard, but when you go back and try to see things how it was before...well, it's all changed."

Leo mulled that over. "Like Annabeth?"

"Even if she does survive long enough," Chiron played with a stack of pinochle chips in his hands. "She won't be the same. Annabeth has been through so much, but change is making her like this. It will happen to Percy to, no doubts."

"Was it because of...down there?" Leo asked.

Chiron nodded slowly. "Tartarus left a deep scar, Leo. And not just physically and emotionally. Souls that go down there are never supposed to leave. Nico di Angelo, when he escaped, he left a residue that targeted him for a quick end afterwards. He wasn't in hell for very long, but the longer you remain in there the stronger it becomes."

"So...this Tartarus magic," Leo furrowed his brow. "You're saying that even coming in contact with Tartarus can literally just sign you up for instant death?"

"Very much so," Chiron agreed. "The magic is evil and dark and twisted, just like Tartarus. It's cunning and targets the mind when you are weak. And it never leaves either, just slowly destroying you from the inside out."

"Like a machine," Leo said. "If there's a virus it aims for the core components and starts shutting them down. If enough are shut down then..."

Chiron nodded, barely moving his chin. "Then the entire mechanics will shut down too."

"So..." Leo twirled the little plastic umbrella from his lemonade in his hands. "Annabeth's mind will be on auto-shut down while this virus takes control and eventually...shuts down the organs in her body."

"Precisely."

Leo shuddered. "How long do we have before it starts shutting down important things? Like, I don't know, her vital organs? Her heart?"

"It will most likely slow the rate of her digestion," Chiron thought aloud. "Her heart rate will slow gradually too, right before it is shut down. The magic of Tartarus is clever, like I said. It's not immediate and painless, it's twisted and takes the sweet time to kill you off, part by part."

Another thought occurred to Leo, even more disturbing. "What about Percy?"

"He might handle a little longer, he's a strong boy." Chiron's face seemed to age twenty years in a matter of minutes. "But he won't last forever. Eventually the magic will seep into his mind and start shutting down more things after that and then...well then it's over."

"Then Nico knew about this, didn't he."

"He probably suspected it, he could sense dark magic." Chiron rubbed his chin, his gaze returning to Leo. "From entering the realm of Tartarus he probably saw the beginnings of it when it tried to break control of his mind. Usually souls don't last as long as they did, the magic usually manages to break the person before they make it very far. In a way, Percy and Annabeth and Nico are very lucky they ever made it out."

"Very lucky," Leo said bitterly, letting all this information sink in. "It isn't fair though. You think they would have gotten a break."

Chiron sighed, before rolling back from the table to go inside the Big House. "Greek tales are never fair, Leo. They all are tragedy, and the lessons the people learn in them are usually too late. Percy and Annabeth are just another story to be told, like everything else." He wheeled out. "I am going to go check on Annabeth, you go tell people to go down for dinner. I'll join you all shortly."

Leo stood up from his chair, his hands in his pockets as he walked to the pavillion to call dinner. So much suffering, he thought, looking up at the cloudy sky. So much sadness. Happy endings just don't exist here.

* * *

_"Annabeth?" Percy strained to turn his neck to face to try and glance at Annabeth. "Are you alright?" He still couldn't see her face. Too dark. _

_"I'm okay," Annabeth rubbed her arms. "Another nightmare."_

_"We won't ever sleep down here," Percy blinked, trying to will the dark circles under his eyes to vanish. "How long have we been down here?"_

_Annabeth had been counting in her mind. "Five days," she said. "Just five."_

_"It seems like eternity," Percy snuggled into the side of the wall, trying to find a quiet corner to rest. "Hell sweet hell." He laughed bitterly._

_"Don't think like that," Annabeth said sharply. "That's what will get you to give up. This is a dangerous place, Percy. It doesn't send fear to you, it infects you. You have to be strong down here, because if the fear gets to you, you'll never get out."_

* * *

Hazel had kept trying to get an answer. "Father," she kneeled at the altar for Pluto. Despite the warm spring weather, it was very chilly in the temple. "I know you don't have time for your children most times, but...my friends are dying. I know can't reverse that, but I need to know why." She pleaded, shutting her eyes. She wanted anything- a sign, a word, her father to appear in the shadows like he had in New Orleans...

A whisper. That was all she got. "_Dark magic does things to the mind_," the whisper was nothing more than a rustle of wind. "_Darkness does things to the soul_."

Hazel's eyes snapped open. "Thank you, Father," she said, rushing out of the temple, not looking for a response.

She came to the door of Jason's villa five minutes later, panting, having run at full speed. She knocked loudly, and a few moments later a sleepy looking Piper opened the door and yawned. "What is it?" she asked, tiredly. "It's too early for this, Hazel."

"Where's Jason?" Hazel demanded.

Piper shrugged, her hair sticking in all directions from her bed head. "He went out about half an hour ago. Can I take a message?"

"It's important," Hazel insisted. "I think I found a way to reverse the effects on Percy and Annabeth."

* * *

_"I think when we come out of here we'll either be incredibly afraid of the dark, or have no fear for it at all," Percy remarked dryly from behind her in the darkness somewhere._

_Annabeth responded by yanking the string on her wrist. "Keep walking," she said._

* * *

It was Leo's shift again. He walked in, his head bent and a new stack of flashcards in his hands.  
"Hey, Blondie," Leo greeted her and sat in the guest chair seated beside her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Dark," Annabeth mumbled. "Pain."  
Leo froze, his heart beating painfully with apprehension. "Where?"

Annabeth turned to him, her eyes scrunched up in pain. "There," she pointed to the side of her stomach. "It hurts."

Leo rushed out, the flashcards spilled on the floor. He found Chiron sitting in the room, talking to Reyna about negotiations through the camps and currency.

"Chiron," Leo interrupted them. "It's happening."

Chiron looked up from the Iris Message. "Excuse me a moment, praetor. Yes, Leo?" He sounded a bit irritated to have been cut off by Leo.

"The magic. It's gotten to her mind," Leo panted. "It's taken control of her...well it's probably just a kidney, but it means it's spreading."

Chiron rose from his wheelchair, expanding. "How do you know? My apologizes senator, I must attend this other urgent matter. We'll talk again soon," he added.

"It is quite alright," Reyna narrowed her eyes at Leo, not quite harsh, more like confused and demanding to know what was such a big fuss. "I have to go to the Forum right now to talk to Jason about plans in New Rome. Good day Chiron," she huffed and swiped the message away.

"She said her side hurt," Leo was talking as they walked in. "It's going to start targeting her liver next, right? It moves from the bottom up. First she was unable to move her legs, now it's getting the rest of her and.."

"Keep her comfortable," Chiron peeked in the curtain to see Annabeth's figure slumped against the bed. "She won't have very long."

"How long?" Leo asked, his hands hiding inside his pockets and looking down between the ground and Chiron's unreadable face.

"A few hours. A day at best. Once it starts targeting vital processes...well, you know Leo. She'll shut down."

"What do I do?" Leo panicked. "So soon?"

Chiron nodded. "If she is lucky, it will reach her heart by late tonight. I want you next to her for the rest of the day, understand? Try to comfort her. Get a few things from her cabin to entertain her. Maybe ask one of her close siblings to stop by."

Leo nodded, his heart feeling like lead. "And then?"

"She'll go in peace," Chiron flicked his tail anxiously. "You can only hope it will be quick. The last few hours will be...uncomfortable for her."

* * *

_"This is as hard as a rock," Percy whined. "It's not even close to a pillow!"_

_"Shut up and rest," Annabeth responded irritably. "I want some quiet."_

_Percy flailed his arms and pointed in all directions. "With that ruckus going on? I doubt it even counts!"_

_"Stop being a baby," Annabeth fumed. "We'll be out of here soon. The others will come and rescue us."_

_"And soon," Percy agreed. "This rock-pillow is _so_ uncomfortable."_

* * *

"Will it work?" Jason asked. "By reversing the effects...what's the chance it would do anything?"

"It would buy us some time," Hazel said. "We should plan getting to New York the day after tomorrow at latest. We could save them, Jason!"

Jason could only nod in agreement. "It will only be a little extra time, but it's better than none. Do we tell Percy?"

"Don't get his hopes up," Hazel warned. "It's only a plan to grasp at. Just try to keep him happy while I go pull some strings."

* * *

_Percy pulled the string on his wrist. "Annabeth?"_

_Silence. _

_"Annabeth?" He called, louder. "Wise Girl?"_

_Eerie ringing filled his ears. "Annabeth?" He almost yelled._

_He looked down at his wrist, feeling along the string to where the other end met._  
_Until he came to the end, finding it had been cut._

_"Annabeth!" He yelled, dropping to the floor and hugging his torso. "Annabeth!"_

* * *

Chiron hadn't mentioned the last hours would be this painful. He said uncomfortable.  
Not painful.

Annabeth was twisting in her sheets. "Stop," Leo told her. "Lay still." He tried to get her to eat something, but the most he could do was dribble some water into her mouth.

Annabeth's breathing was labored. "What's going on?" She was so scared and so helpless, Leo felt like his heart strings were being trodden on by a million chords of emptiness. So young. So unfair.

Leo bit the inside of his cheek. From the way she was acting, the magic had gotten to her heart and lungs. Her breathing was slowing. Her heart rate had been reduced.

He had sent Malcolm, one of the remaining Athena kids, to say goodbye. Annabeth's little brother had been most upset to hear she was leaving on such short notice.

Leo had no comforting things to console himself, her brother, or Annabeth. Now it was just a waiting game.

When he knew it was coming, he braced himself. He had been talking in a soft voice about different things in the camp, and had taken the liberty to retrieve some of her old sketches.

"Leo," her voice sounded oddly strong for someone so close to death. "Stop."

Leo paused. "Do you need anything?"

"My dagger," Annabeth indicated to the sheathed dagger across the table. "I want it in my hands when I die."

"Woah woah," Leo protested, but he reached over and handed her the dagger anyways. "Who said you were going to die?"

Annabeth breathed in deeply, her eyes fluttering with exhaustion. "I have never slept since then," she said in a low, faraway voice. "I look forward to sleep."

"Annabeth," Leo said more insistently. "You shouldn't give up like this. You can make it."

"No," the tired daughter of Athena said. "I've fought long enough."

"You can live, Annabeth."

She smiled dreamily. "When it is his time, tell him he'll see me on the other side. Tell him to be strong."

"Annabeth..."

"Percy can fight it," her hand felt so faint and weak as she grabbed his, trying to convince him. "He'll last long enough. Tell him to be brave. Promise me. Promise you'll try to help him fight."

Leo nodded, his vision suddenly cloudy and blurry. "I promise," he said gruffly.  
He felt an odd sting in his nose, as he sucked it up and held onto his breathing so it remained steadier.

"I'll see him." Annabeth swallowed. "Tell him I'll see him again. I'm not gone forever." Her grip slackened, and her shallow breathing went silent, and for many moments it was only Leo's sniffles that filled the air.

And he wept, wept for those who suffered and died (like his mother) and those would would soon die (for fate had something against all of them) and wept for the girl so strong and confident he had watched fade away in such little time. He couldn't be sad forever, because release was maybe the greatest relief she had, so he could rejoice she was happy and safe far away from harm.

* * *

_"It will be alright," Percy said. "Just picture a sunny beach, the ocean, a nice day, me and you on a nice picnic..."_

* * *

"Jason!" Jason snapped his eyes open at the Iris Message in front of him. He frowned, blinking to wake up from the all the papers he had been reviewing in the office, looking into the face of Leo Valdez.

Jason spotted the redness in his eyes and the splotches where he had rubbed them.  
It didn't take much observation to see something was wrong. So Jason asked anyways.  
"Oh no. What's wrong?"

"Annabeth," Leo choked. "She...she passed just now. I was with her and...Chiron knew it this morning when her body started failing. There was nothing we could have done except to wait it out."

* * *

_"When I die," Annabeth grunted, hoisting herself above Percy as they attempted to climb on the side of a canyon wall. "I want to die holding my knife, not doing some stunt by climbing out of a canyon."_

_"Shut up and climb," Percy snapped, and Annabeth's foot slipped and landed on his face. He cursed, yelling at the hell they were in "Agh! My face!"_

_"Oops, sorry," Annabeth stretched and pulled herself over the canyon wall. "Try and pay attention, Seaweed Brain."_

* * *

Piper had been with Percy when it happened. Piper had been talking to him about Camp Jupiter negotiations that Jason and Reyna had told them to sort through, and she was marveling about the weather, the city, and happy things to keep Percy's spirit risen.

Piper glanced down at the fallen papers, and then Percy. His eyes looked strained and faraway, his mouth puckered.

"Percy?" Piper asked gently. "Is everything okay?"

Percy stood up, the rest of the already sorted papers sliding off his lap and scattering on the ground. "No," he whispered in a tortured voice. "No!" he said louder. "_No!_"

Piper raised an eyebrow as she retrieved the paper. "Sit down Percy, we still have lots of paper to go through."

"She's gone!" Percy's voice broke and suddenly it made sense to her.

"Oh," Piper said in a small voice. "The spell broke. That means..."

"She's gone," Percy let out a sob. "And I didn't get to be with her. It's all my fault, now she's dead and I didn't get to say..."

Piper heard someone calling her name, and she turned and saw Jason was rushing towards her. He glanced at the distraught Percy, and the unsure girl sitting next to him. "She's gone," Jason said gruffly. "Leo just sent me an IM to inform us that..." He glanced at Percy. "Well, I guess the spell is over."

"Why did you do this?" Percy demanded angrily. He looked like a kicked puppy, and Piper bit her lip. "Why?"

"We had to," Piper said in a hoarse voice. She cleared her throat. "Seeing her suffer was sending you spiraling in the same direction. We wanted to stop it as soon as possible."

Percy shook his head wildly, taking a few steps back from Piper and Jason. He gave them one last pitiful glance, and turned and ran.

Hazel and Frank came running out next, a very confused Frank and a sorrowful Hazel. "I just felt it," Hazel panted. "She's not here anymore, is she." Jason nodded to confirm it, and Hazel sank into a bench.

"So close!" She moaned. "If only we had gotten there yesterday! We could have helped her live longer. Why is life so unfair?"

* * *

_"Ugh," Percy groaned. "Why is life so unfair to us?"_

_Annabeth's cheery response was "Life sucks, then you die." With much more enthusiasm than Percy would have appreciated. He raised an eyebrow at her that she couldn't see in the lack of lighting._

* * *

As Jason suspected, their arrival to Camp Halfblood was only painful. Percy was on all levels of 'disengaged' as anyone could be. He didn't talk the entire trip to Camp, his eyes set on the sky and the horizon line below them. Frank tried talking to him several times, but Percy ignored him as if he had contracted chronic deafness and was unaware of anything going on. A monster could have swooped out of nowhere and grabbed him and he probably wouldn't have noticed. (Although, now that Jason thought about that, Percy might actually be overjoyed because of the state of depression he was in.)

And to say the arrival was depressing was an understatement; it felt like Jason had walked into a sober funeral (which technically he had) when he saw the faces of the campers when they stepped in.

His sister was there, and was blinking back tears as she ran and hugged her brother. Piper ran to hug Leo, who was actually crying, even though that scary blonde girl had been his worst fear. One time in Greece they had been tormented by Gaea and they were all forced to look in the mirror of their worst possible fears. Jason remembered he had seen his worst fear- looking defeated and standing alone. He was afraid of failure and losing his friends.

Afterwards, Jason had asked Leo what he had seen, who had been pretty shaken up. Leo might had lied, but he said "I saw Annabeth," he said in such a serious tone that Jason almost thought he was telling the truth. "She's the freakin' scariest thing to ever walk in my life." Piper burst out laughing, and Frank added that Annabeth could be pretty intimidating. Jason agreed on all levels of Annabeth's fear factor, but he knew Leo had not been telling the truth. In reality, there were only a few things scarier than an angry Annabeth, although she came pretty close to actual fear.

But now Annabeth wasn't scary or fearless or courage because that fear ended along with her. And the only fear Jason felt in his heart was when Percy pushed through the line of mourning demigods and kneeled next to the only girl he had ever truly loved and wondered how long it would be before the same happened to him.

* * *

_"Ah, ah, ah, ah," Percy hummed quietly, while trying not to disturb Annabeth. "Stayin' alive, ah ah, ah, stayin' alive, ah ah ah ah..."_

_Annabeth slapped the palm of her hand against the side of his leg. "You're singing it wrong!"_

_And then Percy was left to marvel as him and his girlfriend sang the entire rest of the song in the darkest pits of hell and were able to do it- while smiling. Because they weren't dead yet, and they were together, and that was all that mattered._  
_"...You know it's alright, it's okay, We'll live to see another day..."_

* * *

"I don't want to talk to you!" Percy screamed at him, his vision blinded by tears. "Go away!"

"Percy," Piper said softly, soothingly, comfortingly. "Calm down."

It had no affect on him. "No!" Percy shouted back at her, stumbling backwards over a bench. He got up quickly and scurried away. "Go _away!_"

* * *

_"Calm down," Annabeth said to try to alleviate Percy's panicked and shallow breathing. "Calm down, I'm here, it was just a dream."_

* * *

"Gone!" Percy sobbed. "She's gone!"

"It's some horrid kind of dream," Leo sat next to him. "I...Percy, Annabeth wouldn't have wanted you to be in pain like this. Stop."

"Gone!" Percy screamed and cursed at the wind. The ocean rippled with his angry yells, as if sensing his frustration and pain and was trying to fill up the world and hold him and comfort the brokenhearted hero.

* * *

_"Shhh," Percy said comfortingly. Annabeth shook in the dark and trembled in his arms. "Like you said, it's only a dream."_

* * *

"Eat something," Leo shoved a plate in his face angrily. "Eat something now or I'll tell Piper to force you. Eat. _Now_." There was a dangerous edge and seriousness in his voice that meant he wasn't kidding.

Percy glared at the plate of food and was dismayed when his stomach growled appreciatively. A hamburger. A blue coke. A small plate of blue cookies like his mom made. Oh, he was starving. His mouth watered at the sight of the cookies. He looked up and met the eyes of Leo, who's anger was unhidden. For a minute the eyes turned more sad and pleading, the color the grey stormy sky...

He pushed the plate away.

* * *

_"I'm so sick of this," Percy whispered into the hollow echoes. "When do we ever get a break?"_

* * *

"God dammit," Leo stormed angrily around the Big House. The remodeled, refurbished Big House they had rebuilt after the Romans had destroyed it. "He's not eating! What the Hades am I supposed to do?"

Hazel was glancing at him nervously as if he might explode at any given moment. Actually, he could explode, so she kept a fair distance from him while he ranted. She swallowed.  
"Leo, we could try the plan I had..."

Leo turned so sharply on her it was almost like he hadn't moved. "No," he ground his teeth. "He'll never go along with it. He might get worse."

"Please," Hazel begged. "It's the only shot we have."

Leo looked at her for a minute, as if debating in his mind what the odds were. Don't try the plan and let Percy die in a short time, or try the plan that could extend his lifespan or end it earlier.

"Fine," he said and almost regretted it by the way her eyes lit up with hope. "Just be careful. He's not invincible, you know."

* * *

_Annabeth brushed her hand down his back. "You became invincible," she said softly. "You never did tell me how you survived it."_

_Percy scratched the back of his neck. "I thought of you," he said honestly. "You were the only thing that kept me alive."_

* * *

"Here, lift him up," Jason helped the half-conscious hero onto a bunk. Percy's head rolled to the side and fell against the pillow.

"Get a healer," Leo snapped. He was looking at Hazel who looked horrified.

"What happened- Oh gods," Piper walked in and covered her mouth with her hand. "What happened?" She asked a little louder.

"It was working," Hazel whispered. "You saw it Leo, he was getting better. He was trying to fight it."

"Just a little bit of sunshine," Frank added. "Sun is good for the soul."

Leo waved his hand frantically at Percy's lying form. "Apparently not for him!"

"Leo," Jason put a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down."

"Calm down? _Calm down! _ You want _me_ to calm _down_? How am I supposed to _calm down _ when he's over there practically _dying _ and I promised Annabeth I wouldn't let him go without a fight. _Calm down my-_"

"Leo," Piper said a little more insistently, her power weaving into the words. "Calm down."  
Leo shut up, but he didn't look happy about it.

Percy trembled as a few Apollo healers looked him over. One of them said something about nectar, but the other warned it would put him into shock.

After an agonizing hour he stilled, sleeping peacefully. Leo was sitting outside by the campfire, watching the fire dance along the embers.

Piper scooted into the seat next to him. "It's not your fault," she said.

"I made a promise," Leo said. "Man, I suck at doing things like this. Fixing things, yes, promises, not as well."

"It's not your fault," Piper repeated. She quickly added at the guilty look from Hazel "Or Hazel's. There was nothing you guys could have done. He's simply going through a phase."

"A phase that leads to a long and slow painful death," Leo said humorlessly. "So tell me Piper, when does this '_phase_' end?"

Piper pursed her lips. "Sometimes the best way to get better is just to be hopeful."

"I think Annabeth was pretty hopeful she wasn't going to die, see where that went."  
She didn't have an answer for that.

Jason sat down next to Piper, finding her hand and intertwining their fingers. "Listen to Piper, Leo." Jason advised. "You just gotta hope."

Leo sighed. "Any more hope and I feel the urge to break into a spiritual song. And trust me, you don't want to hear me sing."  
The three of them managed a small smile. "Oh gods, remember the time Leo sang the entire Lady Gaga album? I thought my ears were bleeding," Piper teased and nudged his stomach with her elbow gently.

Leo smirked. "Is that a challenge?"

"No," Piper and Jason said at the same time.

* * *

_"Remember the time when Leo sang the entire Lady Gaga album?" Percy asked as they tried to climb over a tiny plateau that felt much like the giant bottom root of a tree. For all the knew, it could be. _

_Annabeth almost slipped off. "Don't make me think of that, it will be stuck in my head for the rest of my life."_

_Percy almost smiled._

* * *

"Come on, rise and shine, Perseus Jackson, defeater of Titans and etc etc, giant titles no one can name anymore et cetera-" Leo pressed into the infirmary when Percy had been sent into the 'clear' zone. He was trying to hold onto his smile for the entire day as he talked. "We got cabin duties, and you gotta teach a canoeing class because I'm not getting in that cold water-" He stopped talking and froze when he saw the disgruntled and irritated expression on Percy's face leaning off his cot.

"What?" Leo asked as he stared at his friend.

"I can't walk," Percy said like a small child not understanding the concept of life or death quite yet.

Leo lost his voice. It was happening again, just like it had the time before.

* * *

_"Percy, move your legs."_

_"I'm stuck!"_

_"Well get unstuck!" Annabeth's hands were wrapped in something slimy and sending chills down her spine. "Something is touching me!"_

_"I can't move!" Percy protested. "Where are you?"_

_Annabeth gave a sharp tug on the strings on their wrists, their only guide in the dark. "Over here! Now get me out!"_

* * *

Jason was even more depressed than he had been the day before. Camp Jupiter had been in a mourning state for the loss of a hero. Reyna was quite surprised to have heard Annabeth had passed on.  
"She was a fighter," Reyna said blankly. "One of the strongest I know. If she couldn't make it then..."

She didn't need to finish that, because it looked like Percy was headed in the same direction from what Leo had told him.

Hazel had been most sympathetic when she heard. "That's terrible!" She said. "What can we do?"  
According to Chiron, nothing. "Until it passes," Chiron said.

Jason wasn't sure he could handle losing any more friends this year.

* * *

_"We'll fight," Percy held his sword level around his waist, back to back with Annabeth like they had fought so many times before, it felt natural. "And then gods be damned, we'll go down fighting._

_"_Yes_," the chilling voice said in their minds. "_You are damned_."_

* * *

For a while Leo thought that his friend might recover completely.

"Up and at'em," he said every morning he was in charge of 'babysitting' Percy. "We got some work to do."

He made Percy go on walks. At first, he had to limp on crutches, and then it became a sluggish limp, and eventually he was able to walk practically normal. Leo was with him every step of the way, like Annabeth would have, just as he promised.

Percy couldn't run still. His arms were weak and tired, and he could barely hold Riptide above his head anymore. They shook and sank to the ground. Leo wasn't sure what to do to bring up his dampened spirits other than to tell him he had gotten more cookies from his mother.

Leo really hated babysitting. Not in the cruel sense that he didn't appreciate his friend- but he didn't want to see another person he knew so well just to fade away like they always seemed to.

But his worst nightmare came to life in the morning he couldn't get Percy out of bed. For almost a year, he kept Percy alive and active after Annabeth's passing. Leo felt pretty proud with that accomplishment, and he was sure he could continue doing that for as long as it took.

The others from Camp Jupiter stopped by frequently to talk and hang out with Leo and Percy. Piper would braid her hair and then go on to braid Percy's hair, making them both laugh at the ridiculous styles they gave each other. Hazel would teach Percy some old fashioned board games. He especially liked the game Battleships, especially since he beat Hazel every single time.

Frank tried archery with him, but Percy was more content to watch his friend. So Frank found other ways of entertaining his friend by turning into small animals and nipping playfully at Percy's legs as he walked confidently around the camp.

Jason would play basketball and come back all sweaty and tackle Percy in a big hug. Percy would laugh and be grossed out, trying to shove the son of Jupiter away, but Jason would laugh and tell him to play with him and get sweaty so they could hug someone together. Most times it worked, and they would run around the camp and hug their friends. The whole time laughing and enjoying life as it came and passed.

Leo mostly just repaired things, and sometimes brought a few of his smaller projects with him so he could be with his friend while he worked. Percy had a problem with touching parts of the machine Leo was repairing and causing it to malfunction, but more than often Leo would laugh loudly as Percy blushed sheepishly and apologized.

So it was a possibility, Leo saw in his mind, that Percy might get a second chance after all.

* * *

_When they were awake at last, they held each other and rocked and cried because no amount of comforting could break them from the spell that had lasted into hell. _

_And the healing it seemed would take a lifetime (and it would for they would never quite recover from it.)_

* * *

Piper heard Percy had been doing better and was overjoyed.

Frank heard his friend was recovering and rejoiced with Hazel.

Jason knew and smiled when he saw his friend living.

Leo felt a warm glow in his heart as he watched his friend play in the waves and knew he had kept the promise of the bravest girl he knew and the promise he was determined to keep until he was unable to.

* * *

_"Sleep here?" Annabeth whispered, patting the ground softly beside her. "Please. I'm afraid of...well, everything."_

_Percy scooted closer to her and took the opportunity to kiss her forehead. "Sure. I promise I'll be here when you wake up."_

* * *

It wasn't until the day that Percy couldn't move at all that Leo fell into panic.

He'd walked in like any other morning, keeping his cheery exterior to a maximum and his inner turmoil and depression locked inside and the key thrown away. "_Ho hey, Percy-o, we got work to do, oh-!_" He bounced a little inside Percy's cabin and peeked inside. "You got clothes on, Jackson?"

Percy groaned from his bunk, and Leo took that as a yes and an invitation inside. He opened the door wider. "What're you sitting there! Get up! We got to go do canoeing! I hate canoes!"

"Leo," Percy's voice was barely a whisper, at first Leo didn't hear him. "I can't move."

Leo walked in more. "What?"

"I can't move," Percy rolled over a little and his green eyes pleaded with pain. "I hurt all over. I can't feel my legs. Help me."

The plea sounded so desperate to Leo he ran out and shouted for Chiron and a few trusted campers to lift broken hero _numero dos _ from his bunk and into the infirmary.

Leo felt the temperature on his friend's forehead and was alarmed to find it so incredibly warm. Then again, he was super sensitive when it came to heat.

Chiron looked grim, if not even more depressed than he had looked when Annabeth was fading. "The magic's already spread too far. He only has the rest of the day. It will be a miracle if he makes it to the night."

* * *

_"It will be a miracle if we get out of here," Percy grumbled. "I hate this place."_

_"Stop being pessimistic," Annabeth chided. "Instead, be a good fellow pedestrian and keep walking."_

* * *

Frank had been awoken by Leo who had sent an IM right to his barrack. He had fallen asleep next to Hazel, and when he blinked and saw Leo was talking to him, he straightened and Hazel fell into his lap and continued snoring.

Leo averted his eyes as if the sight burned him. "Maybe this is a bad time," Leo said, almost on the edge of a smile he couldn't bring his eyes to completely fill.

"Yes," Frank said, irritated. "What do you want, Valdez?"

"Well, I actually wanted to talk to Jason, but uh...he was in the shower with Pi...you know what, nevermind. I'll let him sort that out later with the incredible awkwardness. Piper's going to skewer me." Leo ruffled his hair. "It's Percy. He's fading."

Hazel woke up abruptly. "So soon?" she cried. "We'll be right over there."

Leo shook his head. "He has less than a day. Chiron speculated he might leave before the night. There's nothing we can do." Leo's face was contorted with pain for his friend.

Frank heard Percy's groan from a cot next to Leo, and Leo handed him a glass of water. "Chiron told me to keep watch of him until...just tell Jason, okay? I'll talk to you guys tomorrow."

"Good luck, Leo." Hazel whispered. "I'm sorry."

Leo's bitter expression melted a little. "S'kay, Hazel. Bye Frank. Tell Piper to get out of the shower, and tell Jason to get his lazy behind to work. I'll be around camp. Bye."

He cut through the message with his hand and Leo's face dissolved.

* * *

_"Sacrifices," the earth around them made him feel tired, want to curl up and fall asleep and never give up. "Such precious sacrifices to wake the goddess."_

_Some part of Percy's mind stirred, only briefly, to be frustrated at his exhaustion before fading into darkness again._

* * *

"Come on," Leo tried to help his friend sit up but Percy was too weak. His arms trembled when he held the cup of water.

Percy's lips cracked as he mumbled something. Leo leaned in closer to hear him so faintly- "Take me to the beach."

Leo shook his head and leaned away. "You have to stay here."

But Percy had enough strength to grab Leo's shirt and hold them face to face. "_Please,_" he said, desperately clinging. "Before..."

So Leo got to carry a dying hero across camp while the sun set and Leo could only curse his life and curse everything that was wrong in it.

He laid Percy down on the sand and collapsed beside him, his energy spent. Percy was not heavy, having lost so much weight from slipping away, but Leo still wasn't used to towing around full grown guys around camp. (He carried Piper around once, but that's a different story.)

Percy watched the ocean, his expression fading into something serene and peaceful.

"At last," he breathed in the ocean, raising one hand that barely shook towards the edge of the water. "The sea."

Leo sat a few meters away, unsure what to do. As he watched, Percy waved his hand to the left a little and the ripples across the sea stretched and touched the waves. The ocean was silent, except for the quiet tapping from the force of Percy's fading power.

He waved his hand again and the ripples spread, dancing across the water in fluid skating motions. Leo watched, mesmerized, as Percy smiled and closed his eyes, seeing it in his mind like a deaf musician who could hear the entire orchestra without having to listen.

They danced and made shapes, sometimes colliding with one another and bursting into bigger ripples that expanded across the water and into the horizon. The sunk sank lower across the sky, and as the top portion was almost vanished and it began to darken when Percy stopped.

It was silent for a minute, and then the sea resumed obeying nature and crashed into the shore once again. Percy breathed in deeply, calming, because he knew his time was now to let go. Right by the sea, his favorite place. The one he shared memories on, the one he felt most at peace, and the one where he and Annabeth spent many times there happy in that frozen part of his memory.

"It's time to let go," Percy said to the sea. "It's time I moved on and saw what was beyond this."

Leo widened his eyes. "You can't leave, Percy! I promised her, that I wouldn't let you join her without putting up a fight."

Percy chuckled quietly. "You fought like a hero, Leo. I fought too, but it was a losing battle for me. Learn from me." He turned to Leo, his eyes sad and pleading, but also rested. The sea stirred beside him, quivering in anticipation for what came next. "Don't forget my story. We're just no more than a legend than you are, but know the difference between the truth and the lies." He breathed, looking back at the ocean, his last breath fading as watched the sun set. "I've been afraid of the dark for so long; to embrace sleep. But I am ready now."

Leo could barely speak. "I...you can go."

"As I will," Percy said as he stepped into the darkness, his arms open and searching for the other part of him that met him in the endless sleep and embraced him like an old friend.

* * *

_Percy tightened his grip on Annabeth's wrist. His face was gaunt, scraped and bloody, his hair dusted with cobwebs, but when he locked eyes with her, she thought he had never looked more handsome._

_"We're staying together," he promised. "You're not getting away from me. Never again."_

_Only then did she understand what would happen. A one-way trip. A very hard fall._

_"As long as we're together," she said._

_She heard Nico and Hazel still screaming for help. She saw the sunlight far, far above—maybe the last sunlight she would ever see._

_Then Percy let go of his tiny ledge, and together, holding hands, he and Annabeth fell into the endless darkness._

* * *

Leo watched the fire dance between his eyes. Seated next to him were his best friends- Piper and Jason, holding hands and swaying together with the music, Piper's head on Leo's shoulder for comfort and her hand wrapped in Jason's.

Frank and Hazel sat beside them as well, Hazel's eyes closed as she dreamt of reality and Frank who saw it with his own eyes and accepted it. And Leo who stared at the fire and didn't leave his gaze.

They all knew the truth, and they would always tell this tale so someday it would be as legendary as any other story in the past. Even greater than Hercules (whom was just like them in a way, tired of being a puppet on strings and suffering along with them) and even the children and heroes and people out there who had done great things that were etched in history together.

History _repeats_ itself, they said. History lacks _originality_.  
It seemed true like that for all tragedies. There was love, and there was fear, and pain and death and they all existed together and never separated the difference. Yet love was just another form of death, but just the barrier that kept them apart made them truly more powerful than if they were together. Great and terrible things, love and death.

The fire danced merrily with the spirit of the campers that struck their harps and their lyres as they sang a song that wasn't meant for joy but it still held it's meaning until it was forgotten. But some stories don't fade, because they can't be forgotten by the ones that told them.

* * *

_They fell for nine days._

_Nine days and nine nights, they held onto each other as they rushed passed earth, middle earth, and finally to the bottom where they were saved by flexible tar and not crushed on impact. They fell for nine days._

_And they wandered for nine days, the string tied to one another as if it was their lifeline. They walked for nine days._

_And then they were taken and slumbered for many days and many nights until they were rescued again and they wept for nine days in loss of a friend (or a brother) and the sacrifice they had paid to make it this far._

_For it felt like they had spent a thousand days in there, suffering and dreaming nightmares that came to life in their minds and slowly stole them away in less than nine days._

_But friends, friends they were, made sure the story lasted for more than nine days; or a thousand days; or a thousand years because it would last forever._

* * *

And Leo would sit by the fire many years later and told stories to the little children of his friends and those who had joined and entered the same world he was in.

"Once upon a time," Leo started, his hands making delicate shapes of fire within his palms. The entire scene fit into the small flames above the fire pit and he changed them and drew them like an artist creating a sculpture and wiped them away and showed new ones.  
"There were two heroes," Piper smiled and snuggled into Jason.  
"And they were just two people of seven," Frank wrapped his arms around Hazel.  
"And these heroes were meant to save the world someday," Jason said, his gaze on the excited faces of young heroes that looked like the innocent faces of young heroes before they grew.  
"But two of them were braver than any other," Hazel's beam grew and her golden eyes flickered like the fire in Leo's dancing hands. The children watched and listened, their breath taken away and enticed by the story.

"And they were never afraid of anything of anything as long as they were together."  
"So they fought for one another and they loved each other more than anything..."  
"...and their love was so strong and bright, it lasted them through the darkest parts of hell."  
"These heroes were so tired and broken when they were rescued that they started to fall apart."  
"And the hero was separated from his love because his friends didn't wish him to be sad while he watched his other fall into the arms of death."  
"And so she passed."  
"And he was very sad," Leo formed the familiar image of two figures sitting out by the edge of a water and the one making shapes. "So he waited until it was his time and then he fell with her too."

"And they fell together," Piper's eyes shined brighter.  
"Because love is as strong as death." Hazel's beam shined greater.  
"And their story lasts because it is as strong as death and love," Jason smiled with a scar-frown.  
"And stories like these last forever because they mean so much," Frank added, his smile matching the others.

"So their friends vowed not to forget them," Leo said. "Because their friends had been brave. And strong. And they didn't hide from darkness, no, because while the rest of us might be a little afraid, they found darkness was just as beautiful as light." He waved his hands over the fire and the flames died out. "Because heroes are never forgotten, even when their story is in the dark. It just makes it even more memorable, because it's part of the realm we don't understand. We all- and even the heroes- started out like you. We were small and afraid, and our heroes are afraid too sometimes...so however you may grow up..." Leo smiled, his palm sparking embers into the fire. "...Just remember where it all began."

And when the songs started and people clapped and danced and laughed and sang softly along with the camp traditional song, for heroes like them and heroes before them who had lived or died or loved because they were all the same. This song would last forever, they all knew, not because of the music because of what it meant to heroes like them. Roman and Greek together, could stand together when they heard this song.

And as the music rang through the trees, the fire twirled with the rhythm of love and for moments it would flicker in the shining faces of two brave, broken and yet entirely real and whole heroes who refused to let history forget or repeat them.

_Oh love, take my hand as we go_  
_There's darkness taking over the land that we know_  
_And there's a fire_  
_Oh, a great fire_  
_A fire burning through our hearts_  
_And it beats for both of our parts_  
_Into the endless sleep we shall fall_  
_But with you through the gates of hell I'd crawl_

_Oh, love, we're fading into nothing_  
_Our love was strong but now fate is bluffing_  
_I could never separate you from me_  
_As I look from one end to our dark endless sea_

_And the distance can't keep us apart_  
_Oh love, don't forget about your heart_  
_I'm fading now, remember when you wake_  
_The memories you kept are not ours to take_  
_Hold to my hand as we fall down_  
_Oh love, I will have to leave you now_  
_Be brave, be strong, hold high your crown_  
_As we hold tight and into darkness I drown_

_Oh, love, we're fading into nothing_  
_Our love was strong but now fate is bluffing_  
_I could never separate you from me_  
_As I look from one end to our dark endless sea_

_Now there is only one of two_  
_As I hold onto life and bear to join you soon _  
_While I listen and try to hear the sea_  
_Only in my dreams of you I hope to see_  
_This dark magic taken hold of our minds_  
_It's twisted and only darkness in my broken hero eye finds_  
_The sun can't shine through this deep expanse_  
_My mind is caught in it's painful trance_

_Oh, love, we're fading into nothing_  
_Our love was strong but now fate is bluffing_  
_I could never separate you from me_  
_As I look from one end to our dark endless sea_

_As I look out to find our horizon lines_  
_And I see the truth and hide the lies_  
_While I walk to greet you at the gate_  
_Oh, love, twisted cruel bitter fate_  
_But even in this unending dreamless sleep_  
_Together we fell into darkness so deep_

_Oh, love, we're fading into nothing_  
_Our love was strong but now fate is bluffing_  
_I could never separate you from me_  
_As I look from one end to our dark endless sea_

_Oh, love, there's nothing left of us but ash and dust_  
_The fire's out and our love has yet to last while our swords rust_  
_Oh, love, I kept you in my heart until I die_  
_And now we are still together where all legends lie_


End file.
